The Historisches Technisches Museum Peenemünde Im Kraftwerk is largely situated on the grounds of the former power plant of Heeresversuchsanstalt Peenemünde, the former ww2 army research center testing grounds where weapons like the V1 and V2 rockets were developed. This facility is one of the last remaining large buildings, but even on it’s own it still displays the enormous ambition the Nazi’s had in developing their goals.

A V1 and V2 (replica) rocket on display on the museum grounds.

The Heeresversuchanstalt demanded a great amount of electricity. The testing and production facilities of many different experimental programmes, the production of liquid oxygen, the railway system, the Luftwaffe airfield and the housing of 2000 scientists and 4000 other staff and military personnel all added up.

Using forced labour, construction of the power plant started in 1936 and took only two and a half years to finalize. The facility was the largest power station in WWII Europe at the time and highly advanced. The plant was equipped with a filter system, which used electrostatically charged metal plates to remove 90% of the coal particles from the flue gas. This effectively reduced visible smoke to conceal the plants operational state to Allied planes. Around July 1942, the power plant delivered a total of 30 Mw of electricity and supplying the demand of the newly built large liquid oxygen plant Sauerstoffwerk II which was taken into use, absorbing 22Mw alone.

After the war, the power plant was kept in use and continued to produce heat and electricity until 1990. For this reason the building is still standing today. In 1992 the Peenemünde Historical and Technical Information Centre openened it’s doors.

Visit Historisch- Technisches Museum Peenemünde Im Kraftwerk

Apart from the power plant, the museum has lots of information and exhibits about the Peenemünde area, the labour camps and the army research that was done here.

This “Bunkerwache” and former control center is now the entrance to the museum grounds – Peenemünde, Germany

Inside the Bunkerwache of the Kraftwerk museum

Memorial: “Peenemünde in memory of the victims, the bone of contention”

Overview of the powerplant and the museum grounds – Peenemünde, Germany

Inside the Power Station (German: Kraftwerk)

The large facility has been devided into two spaces for visitors (actually there are more, but these are only accesible with a private guide). First there is the exhibition center about the whole Peenemünde area, the labour camps and the army research that was done here. Then, there is the main production hall with the impressive Kesselhaus (boiler room) where we get a real sense of the magnitude of the Peenemünde operations. Both parts of the museum are well worth the visit.

The crane bridge and the coal transportation system

A big eye-catcher directly next to the plant is of course the large steel crane bridge which is part of the coal transportation system. The crane unloaded the Silesian coal from the harbour (or when it was out of order it came from the underground bunker underneath) and fed the crusher house (Brecher Haus) where the coal was refined into smaller pieces (max. 40mm) and was dropped on the conveyor-belt bridge (Schrägaufzug) to be transported into the steam generator of the power plant.

Another view of the coal transportation system – Historisch- Technisches Museum Peenemünde, Germany

The mobile crane on the crane bridge on top of the crusher house (Brecher haus) – Historisch- Technisches Museum Peenemünde, Germany

The large grabber of the coal crane – Historisch- Technisches Museum Peenemünde, Germany

The coal crusher house (German: Brecher haus)

Here the silesian coal was refined into smal chunks and loaded on the conveyor belt to be transported into the power station.

The V1, V2 and the Walter split-tube catapult

Peenemünde is of course best known for it’s rocket development. On the museum grounds they have an A4 (V2) type rocket replica built of original parts and a ‘Fieseler Fi 103’ or ‘FZG 76’ better known as the “V1” or “buzz bomb” in combination with a Walter “split-tube” catapult installation on display.

An A4 (V2) replica made of original parts on display – Historisch- Technisches Museum Peenemünde, Germany

The V2 rocket seen from the base – Historisch- Technisches Museum Peenemünde, Germany

Das Siebhaus (1941)

The Siebhaus (or Eng:Screening house) was built for water purification and is situated between the power plant and the dock. It took in the water from the nearby harbor, filtered it and then pumped the water into 4 large containers, which were placed on the uppermost storey of the power plant. Each container could hold up to 44.000 litres of water.

The “Siebhaus” from the outside with the crane bridge in the background – Historisch- Technisches Museum Peenemünde, Germany

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